1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to telecommunications and, in particular, to voice identification. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to identifying a backup for a call according to the call context.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone service has created communication channels worldwide, and those channels continue to expand with the advent of cellular and other wireless services. A person can simply take a telephone off-hook and dial a destination number or press a send button and be connected to a telephone line around the world.
Messaging systems have developed that answer a line after a set number of rings or a designated period of time. An answering machine device may connect to a telephone device to answer incoming calls. Alternatively, an answering machine service, provided by a telephone service provider, answers the call and provides options for a caller to leave a message in a voice mail box or through text messaging, for example.
Within private telephone switching systems, each telephony device may be provided with buttons or other selection options that an individual may utilize to select a reason the caller is unavailable. An operator attempting to connect a caller to that individual will receive the unavailable signal and reason for unavailability, such that the operator may then switch the caller to a voice mail box or to another available employee.
An advantage of messaging systems within a private telephone switching system is that an individual may provide a message to callers that indicates a backup in the case that the caller needs to talk with an someone rather than leaving a message. Additionally, within a private telephone switching system, callers are typically provided with the option of pressing A0″ during the message to have the call transferred to the operator or an assistant.
However, a limitation of messaging systems within a private telephone switching system is that a backup accessible according by pressing A0″ or another entry is limited to a line number accessible within the private telephone switching system. A single backup within a private telephone switching system is limited because callers may try to reach an individual at a business line within a private switching system concerning non-business matters, where the individual's backup within the company is not helpful. While the individual may provide a message to callers that details a backup and telephone number of that backup for non-business matters, the caller is then required to end the call and dial the number of that backup.
A limitation of messaging systems in general is that an individual typically cannot designate a backup unless the line number is connected to a private telephone switching system. An individual may indicate in an entry message that names and phone numbers of backups for the caller. However, an individual typically records one message that is played for all incoming calls, where that message will then reveal those names and numbers to any caller reaching the messaging system.
Forwarding services allow an individual to select a line number to which incoming calls are automatically forwarded. Forwarding systems allow an individual to have calls follow them to the line number most accessible to the caller. Alternatively, an individual may forward calls to a line number accessible to a backup for the individual. However, forwarding systems are limited in that only a single line may be selected for forwarding calls to, regardless of the context of the call. This limitation is apparent where an individual selects to forward calls from a business line to a colleague's business line. A personal call made to the individual's business line will be forwarded to the colleague, rather than transferred to a messaging system.
Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for providing a backup for calls, whether or not the line number is managed by a private telephone switching system. In addition, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for providing multiple single entry backup selections for a call. Morever, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for automatically forwarding a call to a backup or automatically transferring the call when the individual is unavailable, where that backup is automatically selected based on the context of a call.